This bill adds a new Health Care Workforce Innovation Program to the Public Health Service Act. The program would give competitive grants or contracts to eligible groups to develop community-driven education and training for allied health professionals. Eligible applicants include Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), state associations or consortia of FQHCs, certified rural health clinics that meet section 334, and accredited nonprofit post-secondary vocational programs that train allied health workers for primary care settings.
Applications must describe accredited training pathways or partnerships, the community-driven model, the service area and workforce shortage data if available, benefits for trainees during education, applicant experience in recruitment and retention, how funds will supplement existing funding, scalability and replicability, infrastructure and outreach needs, and any other Secretary-required information. Grant funds can be used to build or expand partnerships with high schools, vocational schools, community colleges, area health education centers, and clinical sites; to provide training programs, pre-apprenticeships, apprenticeships, internships, career ladders, training equipment, supplies, and limited renovations needed for training. Funds cannot be used for construction costs or to supplant existing health workforce funding. Funded models must run at least 3 years.
The Secretary must give priority to applicants that increase the number of people from underserved or disadvantaged backgrounds in allied health roles, improve access to medical, behavioral, and oral health in underserved communities, or demonstrate cost-efficient replication. Grantees must report periodically to the Secretary on findings and outcomes. The bill lists many examples of "allied health professionals," including medical assistants, dental assistants, dental hygienists, pharmacy technicians, physical therapists and assistants, health care interpreters, billing and coding professionals, health information technology professionals, dietitians, medical technologists, EMTs, community health workers, health education specialists, paraprofessionals, and peer support specialists. The bill authorizes "such sums as may be necessary" for fiscal years 2026 through 2028 and limits any single grant or contract to no more than $2,500,000 for a grant period.
Proponents would say the program supports community-driven and scalable training models to expand the supply of allied health workers in underserved and rural areas. The bill prioritizes recruiting and training people from underserved and disadvantaged backgrounds, building partnerships across educational and clinical settings, and creating apprenticeships and career ladders to better match workforce skills to community needs.
No publicly available information.